Starfleet ranks
The Starfleet rank system of has a long history dating back to early space explorers of the Earth Starfleet and its predecessor organizations of astronauts. These ranks used by Starfleet further date back to old Earth navies. Flag officer ranks The most senior section of Starfleet is described as the "flag officers." These ranks are the highest levels of Starfleet command. :Rank insignia which are only conjecturally designated will be footnoted with an asterisk. Rank insignia with dark backgrounds are not derived from onscreen evidence, but behind the scenes sources or references (such as the Star Trek Encyclopedia). Fleet Admiral The rank of fleet admiral is the most senior flag rank in Starfleet. In 2293, the commander in chief of Starfleet held this rank. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country) :The fleet admiral insignia for the system used after TNG season 3 would be five pips enclosed in a rectangular border. At this point, this insignia has not been identified in any onscreen source, but is derived from the Star Trek Encyclopedia. The rank ''has been canonically mentioned in that era, however, but the officers in question wore the insignia of lower ranked admirals, a possible costume mistake, or simply a confusion in nomenclature (they were admirals in command of fleets, but perhaps not fleet admirals). Possibly this rank is only differentiated by this insignia under special circumstances, such as wartime.'' Admiral The second most senior flag rank known to exist in Starfleet is a full admiral. Vice Admiral Vice admiral is a Starfleet flag rank immediately inferior to full admiral, but superior to a rear admiral. Rear Admiral Rear admiral is the lowest grade of admiral is Starfleet. It is inferior to a vice admiral, and superior to a commodore or captain. Commodore The rank of commodore is the lowest flag rank in Starfleet, immediately superior to a captain, and just before rear admiral. At some point in Starfleet history, this rank became known as "rear admiral lower half." :This practice mirrors a change made in the modern-day US Navy eliminating the commodore grade. In TOS, many fleet commanders and other senior personnel were commodores, but by TNG, an officer (Admiral Gregory Quinn) with an equivalent insignia to a commodore was referred to as an admiral, indicating Starfleet made a similar change. Line officer ranks Fleet Captain Captain Captain is the most senior regular line rank in Starfleet. It is most often applied to starship and starbase commanders, and the adjutants and executives serving beneath admirals. The equivalent military rank to Starfleet captain is colonel. :In the modern US Navy, captain is a four-stripe officer rank. This insignia style was used in ENT all TNG era productions. During TOS and the Movies it had differing insignia. The TOS captains wore one braid, a broken braid and another braid. However, in the pilot "The Cage" Captain Pike wore only a single rank strip, so it was not clear how other officers were differentiated from captains. By "Where No Man Has Gone Before," Kirk was the only officer with two stripes, but that system din't differentiate any other officer grades below captain except for no-stripe ensigns. Commander Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant Lieutenant Junior Grade Ensign Chief Warrant Officer & Warrant Officer Midshipman & cadet ranks Cadet (Midshipman) 1st class Cadet (Midshipman) 2nd class Cadet (Midshipman) 3rd class Cadet (Midshipman) 4th class Enlisted ranks Chief Petty Officer Petty Officer Yeoman, Technician & Specialist Crewman ---- *captain **canonically verified for all eras, VGR prov. captain only in encyc. *commander (various) *lieutenant commander (various) *lieutenant (various) *lieutenant junior grade (tormolen in TOS; a LTJG was called ensign by mistake in TMP) *ensign (various) *midshipman (name given to cadet officer candidates - Preston, ST:2) **cadet first class (fourth year, four pins) **cadet second class (third year, three pins) **cadet third class (second year, 2 pins) **cadet fourth class (first year, 1 pin) *chief warrant officer (ST:Encyc calls the hollow pip, most Voyager hollow pip (provisional pin) referred to as crewman, O'brien hollow pip referred to as chief or chief petty officer) *warrant officer - Kosinski's square pip in TNG:"WNOHGB" ?? *chief petty officer - different grades to explain O'Brien's "promotions"?, & change of insig too?? DS9 - 3chevron;2pips - (same for CPO "trainee" in DS9:"Valiant" ?) *petty officer (DS9 - Zim Brott, "Field of Fire", unseen) *yeoman (first class?) (Rand, etc TOS only) *yeoman second class (implied by below) *yeoman third class (Tina Lawton, TOS: Charlie X) **specialists & technicians - rates go here, equiv. to yeo?? - never any insignia in VOY **Tal Celes is sensor analyst 3rd class **nurses belong as a specialist rank? but some are officers? *crewman first class (Tarses, TNG: "The Drumhead", no insignia) *crewman second class (implied by above?) *crewman.. third?? and etc? SOME RANKS ARE CONJECTURAL! Cheif Warrant Officer 5* (All Warrant Grades Use One Black Pip) Chief Warrant Officer 4* Cheif Warrant Officer 3* Cheif Warrant Officer 2* Chief Warrant Officer 1* Master Chief Petty Officer of Starfleet* (Three Gold Chevrons and Three Gold Dots) Fleet/Force Master Cheif Petty Officer* (Three Gold Chevrons and Two Gold Dots) Command Master Chief Petty Officer* (Three Gold Chevrons and One Gold Dot) Master Chief Petty Officer* (Three Chevrons and Three Dots) Senior Cheif Petty Officer (Three Chevrons and Two Dots) Chief Petty Officer* (Three Chevrons and One Dot) Petty Officer 1st Class* (Three Chevrons) Petty Officer 2nd Class* (Two Chevrons) Petty Officer 3rd Class* (One Chevron) Crewman (Crewmand wear no Rank Insignia) Crewman Recruit* Crewman Apprentice* * = Conjectural Ranks Notes # The March 2003 issue of Star Trek: The Magazine states there are no LTCMDR and LTJG ranks in Earth's Starfleet. This seems to be backed up by the series.